Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Has $301.21 Million Stock Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Free Report) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,738,804 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 10,528 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.69% of Discover Financial Services worth $301,213,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DFS. National Pension Service boosted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 14.8% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 439,756 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $61,693,000 after acquiring an additional 56,814 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 115,487 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $16,202,000 after purchasing an additional 10,946 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter worth $282,000. Meyer Handelman Co. bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at $239,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,415,000. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DFS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group raised shares of Discover Financial Services from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Discover Financial Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $191.91.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of DFS opened at $181.28 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $189.27 and a 200 day moving average of $166.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Discover Financial Services has a 12 month low of $118.74 and a 12 month high of $205.76. The company has a market capitalization of $45.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.36, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.46.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 26.18% and a net margin of 17.29%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. Discover Financial Services's dividend payout ratio is 17.54%.

About Discover Financial Services

Discover Financial Services, through its subsidiaries, provides digital banking products and services, and payment services in the United States. It operates in two segments, Digital Banking and Payment Services. The Digital Banking segment offers Discover-branded credit cards to individuals; personal loans, home loans, and other consumer lending; and direct-to-consumer deposit products comprising savings accounts, certificates of deposit, money market accounts, IRA certificates of deposit, IRA savings accounts and checking accounts, and sweep accounts.

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